First Day of School

"Yay first day of school!" Ashe cheered as she jumped with excitement in front of the school entrance, "I can't wait to meet everyone! I'll have so much fun making new friends, learning cool new stuff, and having a wonderful time!"

Ashe felt the morning sun beam down on her and she raised a hand to cover her eyes and stared up at it dreamily. She never felt more alive: her body was tingling with excitement, her nostrils inhaled the freshly mowed grass, and her perspectives were sharper than ever. She couldn't wait to make new friends, let alone experience high school life.

"But before I do so," Ashe smiled and flicked her hair back from her left ear, "I have to be prepared that way everyone may like me. That's why I created a list!" Ashe reached into her schoolbag and pulled out a tiny blue notebook and raised it cheerfully to the sky. In it she wrote a short list that she wishes to accomplish on her first day of school: be the first to arrive to class early, befriend everybody despite how cool or uncool they are, and leave a wonderful good impression so that everybody will like her.

"If I follow everything from the list, I know I can be a very popular student in school." Ashe said as she trembled with determination, "I have to keep my confidence strong, and never lose my dignity. I can do this. Right everybody?" She turned around and expected surrounding students to gaily agree with her.

But it was deserted. Nobody was around. Ashe looked around surprised and saw that she was the only person standing there. Frantically she pulled out her cell phone and saw that it was 6:00am. She arrived an hour before school even started!

Above high a flock of birds cawed merrily as they flew toward whatever destination they were going to.

"Yup I got this, birdies, I got this," Ashe winked and pointed at the birds in her habitual way by pointing with her index fingers, one finger after the other three times. Point – point – point.

So now what am I going to do? Ashe thought. She arrived an hour early to school while everybody is probably asleep or barely waking up for the first day. Standing in front of the gates while doing nothing might make her look awkward, let alone a big waste of time. As though to answer her question in doing what to do next, her stomach started grumbling. Ashe placed a hand on her tummy and realized that she hadn't ate breakfast! She was so excited going to school that she forgot to eat first and pack up lunch too.

"I can't go to school like this," Ashe said worriedly, "If I don't eat now, I'll be hungry throughout the whole day! Plus I need energy to make friends with my classmates." Remembering that she passed by a bread shop before she arrived to school, Ashe skipped happily to the bread shop, thoughts full of delicious bread to fill her empty stomach.

"Hi! I would like one sweet bean bread and another sweet bean bread for lunch please." Ashe smiled at the waiter who walked up to her table.

"Will that be all for you madam?" the waiter asked.

"Yup," Ashe said happily, "that'll be it!"

"I'll be back with your order," the waiter smiled and turned away.

"Take your time sir." Ashe said as she pointed three times at him with her index fingers. Point-point-point.

Ashe relaxed in her chair and inhaled the sweet smell of bread. Never had she seen so much bread in her life! They were on the tables in the center of the store, they were on the walls, there were also small samples of bread on her table. Reaching out, she grabbed one and popped it into her mouth. Ashe felt a wonderful sensation inside her mouth! She could only imagine what the sweet bean breads would taste like once they arrive! Without realizing it, Ashe pulled out her blue notebook and was about to scribble down the name of this store, but she stopped dead in her tracks.

What's the name of this store? Ashe thought and felt a slight panic attack inside her, I must've passed by it a hundred times as I was growing up, but I don't remember its name? You're so stupid, Ashe!

For a moment, Ashe thought of calling back the waiter and asking him what was the name of this bread shop, but she stopped herself. Sshe would feel so foolish doing that. The waiter would probably laugh at her and think that she's a dumb person.

No, Ashe thought firmly, I have to leave a good impression and I don't want to blow it now.

The waiter started arriving with her ordered food, and Ashe felt her mind racing. She felt her heart beating rapidly while her palms began to sweat. Never had she thought how to ask an arriving waiter about the name of the bread shop while remaining to leave a good impression. Ashe forced herself to calm down, take deep breaths, clear away the stress that was clouding her mind.

The waiter arrived smiling with a bag full of sweet bean bread. The delicious aroma coming from the paper bag helped decrease Ashe's nervousness slightly.

"Here is your ordered meal madam," the waiter said courteously, "and because it's your first visit, here is a free carton of milk for your-"

"What is the name of this place?" Ashe blurted out. All of her determination of leaving a good impression flew right out the window.

"Excuse me?" the waiter said, clearly startled by Ashe's abrupt question while his smile decreased slightly.

"T-this…bread shop," Ashe stammered while she felt her foot tapping a mile a minute while looking down at her hands, "I d-don't know its name. C-can you t-tell me?" Her cheeks flushed red and she felt her neck dampen. Despite the shop only consisted only the waiter and herself, Ashe felt as though she was being stared down by a million people from every corner of the shop.

"Why this is Pantheon's Bakery," the waiter replied matter-of-factly, and, although Ashe was looking down at her hands, she bet that the waiter's smile dropped into a frown, "this bakery is known for its five-star bread and has been received multiple awards and nominations from critics across the world. Surely you must've known that?"

"I-I…well-I got to go!" Ashe said. She felt that her cheeks were no longer red, but rather her entire face was burning with embarrassment. Without looking up at the waiter, she placed a bill of yen onto her table, grasped the bag of sweet bean bread, and rushed out of the shop. She ran several blocks away from the shop with her school bag weighing down on her side. It wasn't until she felt a strong pang from her ribs that Ashe stopped running and placed a hand on her side. She leaned heavily against the brick wall next to her gasping for air while she wiped away beads of sweat from her brow. She placed the sweet bean bread on the ground, as she gasped deep breaths.

The morning sunlight beamed brightly down on Ashe, and she was about to move to a cooler shade until she felt something cold against her neck. Looking down, she saw that it was a pendant which her parents gave her for her a few years back. The pendant was, for the most part, simple yet alluring: a bright blue necklace that gleamed beautifully from the morning sunlight while centered is a bow and arrow that looked as though ready to attack its prey.

It was also the last gift which her parents gave her before they were killed in a plane crash.

Ashe felt a sudden wave of memories which she tried so hard to suppress over the course of years. She remembered when she was younger, she never had any friends whatsoever. It wasn't because she was shy or hated people, by all means she wanted to befriend all of her peers. The problem was that anytime she spoke with anybody, she felt a growing anxiety within herself. She feared that she would run out of things to say, therefore an awkward silence would occur, and she would do anything to escape the conversation. That and Ashe felt paranoia that anything she say would offend people despite it being completely unintentional. Therefore she thought it was best that she doesn't make any friends.

The only friends Ashe had were her parents. Her mother and father understood that she had a difficult time speaking with people, that her holding a conversation was a challenge for Ashe. Because of that, Ashe felt so comfortable, so warm that somebody would understand her problems and still love her. But there was one problem though. Ashe's mother and father were owners of a successful business, making them travel to multiple cities and countries, therefore leaving Ashe alone at home for the majority of their time. However, to show that they haven't forgotten their daughter, they would send Ashe gifts from their business trips and, although they were never there to see her, they always expected Ashe to smile happily and hugging the present closely to herself-

A distant ringing of a bell tower broke Ashe's chain of thoughts. It Ashe jumped in shock and realized that it was her high school's bell tower ringing that class was about to start! Frantically pulling out her phone from her school bag, Ashe saw that she had less than five minutes to arrive to class!

Abandoning the sweet bean bread on the floor, Ashe holstered her school bag and ran the endless blocks down to her high school.

I can't be late now, Ashe panted as she arrived at the grassy entrance of her school, I can't ruin my plans to leave a good impression and make new friends. The painful pang from her ribs returned, throbbing harder than ever, but Ashe ignored it. She had to arrive to class on time, no matter what.

Ashe felt the wet grass slopping from her new tennis shoes. Instinctively she reached into her school bag and pulled out her phone to see how much time was left until the bell rang again, signaling that the first class session was about to begin. Then without warning, without anything to grasp onto, her feet slipped from the slippery grass, and Ashe felt herself falling down…down…

SPLAT!

Oh no…oh no, oh no, Ashe thought dreadfully as she saw nothing but blackness. Wet water quickly seeped onto her uniform while she slowly raised her head. Ashe blinked away the wet mud away from her eyes as she looked down.

Her uniform was ruined! It's like as though somebody with a large can of paint threw it at her. Mud dripped from the edges of her formerly clean skirt while her spotless white socks were soggy from her dirty shoes. Several flies and mosquitoes flew started landing on Ashe's muddy skin, curious of who this new intruder might be, but Ashe smacked them away.

"I can't go to school like this," Ashe said exasperatedly while tears started forming from her eyes, "but I can't miss out on the first day! Oh dear what must I do?"

"Katarina?"

"Here."

"Ezreal?"

"Right here."

"Riven?"

"I'm here."

Good I made it on time, Ashe thought as she leaned against the door entrance of her classroom. She brushed her hair with her free hand, but it was welcomed with a cake full of drying mud. She looked down at herself, and saw that she was still covered in mud, despite her hard efforts in brushing most of them away. Ashe thought that maybe covering herself in mud wasn't a bad idea after all. In fact, it might leave an even better first impression upon her classmates! Who wants to see a classmate wearing the same uniform like everybody else?

"Ashe?"

"This is it!" Ashe whispered to herself excitedly. She proudly opened her classroom door and stood at the threshold with full confidence –

-but her confidence in saying, "Here!" aloud suddenly vanished.

Ashe wasn't expecting so many people in her classroom! There must've been more than thirty students, including the teacher too! Every single eye was looking at her, and Ashe felt something prickle from her skin. Time felt to go by so slow to the point where it stopped.

Suddenly a strong wave of laughter burst to where Ashe was almost knocked back from her feet. All of the students were laughing, pointing, and one even shot a spitball at her, which Ashe dodged on time. The teacher tried to settle down the students, but it was futile: Everybody kept laughing at Ashe.

Without knowing it, Ashe felt tears brimming her eyes. This was the most humiliating moment in her life. Her attempts in making a good impression, her hard work in trying to make good friends, and her goal in fulfilling her parents wish by befriending her classmates, all suddenly popped like a balloon exploding after being stabbed by a needle.

Ashe dropped her gaze onto the floor and covered her face with her hands. She turned around and was about to exit the classroom until she felt like she hit a wall. Taking a peek through her fingers, mud, and tears, she saw that a student was standing before her. Her first impression was that he was athletic: He was tall, wore a white shirt while his muscles bulged from his arms, and he wore black shorts with tennis shoes. He looked as though he came back from exercising, but Ashe didn't know. She didn't care. She bet that this same student was like everybody else: laughing and pointing at her.

Anger surged inside Ashe. Even though she didn't see this person's face, she didn't have to see that he was laughing at her. Couldn't he see her tears? Couldn't he see that she was in emotional pain right now? Without warning, or without thinking what she was doing, Ashe pushed the athletic student with her muddy eyes, and quickly ran down the hall, not turning back whether he fell down or was still laughing at her.